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Laws and Lies
=Background= Another skit in a long line of those done for school projects. Done in lieu of a final for AP US History with Mr. DeSorgher, the team of 4 took some time to come up with the direction of the film. The original concept was to show a life and love and devotion to politics could lead to insanity (the video would cite cases of James Otis, Woodrow Wilson and others). But the crew found the 1920s to be a far more interesting time period to work with. =Synopsis= The skit used a few techniques that Wazoo had been experimenting with, namely that of intersecting, yet separate story lines. The four story lines progressed as follows: Immigrant Marco is introduced as he exits the train to the background of his inner monologue. He explains how interested he is in starting his new life here in America with all new possibilities that await him. He eventually goes into business with Mr. Estrada and the Mob in order to make ends meet as there is heavy prejudice against immigrants. He and Lombardo are suddenly confronted by the detective who beats them both out of "justice" but more so the hatred he harbors for them. Marco then goes to the factory to complete Mr. Estrada's alcohol drop but the deal is broken up by the detective. Marco escapes on foot, leaving the detective and the other member of the deal behind him. Detective Harman is first seen at the dinner table with his son, explaining his resentment towards other races and the changing times. He scolds his son, forbidding him to associate with anything other than his own kind. The detective is then seen spouting his hate speech after beating the hell out of Lombardo and Drakosian. He then meets with the judge, keeping the facts of why he wants a warrant to the bare minimum. On his way to the known drop point, he drives to an inner monologue in which he tells his love for the 19th Amendment and the new, straighter edge America. He arrives and scopes out the drop, identifying Marco and the other, unknown party. After the hands shake, Harman jumps out and attempts to take down Marco. After a short chase, he gives up and turns back to grab the evidence. He hears rustling and sees the other party fleeing the scene. After a long chase, Harman fires and takes down the escaping suspect. In the last scene, he stoops down over the body only to find he has killed his own son. Son The unnamed son is introduced in the same dinner scene as his detective father. He agrees to his father's warnings but he doesn't agree with his father's narrow minded viewpoint. He then sneaks out, against his father's warnings to the jazz club in order to pick up some alcohol. He is assaulted by Lombardo, who tells him to pick up the "juice" at the assigned spot. He then goes to the factory, and meets with an immigrant. Upon shaking his hand to complete the deal, a policeman breaks up the deal, chasing the immigrant while the son slips into the shadows. As the cop who has given up returns to the drop point, the son makes a dash to escape. A chase ensues, ending with a single gunshot, the last thing the son would ever hear. Judge In the least relative and least connecting story line, Turner is introduced in his office, through monologue he tells of the trials that he endures in order to uphold the law to the best of his ability. He seems to be morally straight, expressing a knowledge of right and wrong. The next time he is seen is during a meeting with Detective Harman in order for him to obtain a warrant. The judge shows his true colors when he is pleased that Harman is taking the law into his own hands, as Turner gives him a warrant without even knowing the man's name. The judge is later seen walking around his house, disrobing on the way to bed. In the second to last shot of the skit, it cuts back to the judge on his bed drinking some scotch delivering the last line of the skit "I'm the last damn pillar of morality in this crooked nation." =Cast= *Marco Drakosian (Mike H) - Eastern European immigrant, trying to make a new start in the US *Detective Harman (Jack Samels) - Cop bittered by the time period and corruption *Son (Sutton Dewey) - Harman's son who is enthralled by the changing times and trends *Judge Turner (Dave Curran) - Corruption at its highest point, a justice who no longer cares about ethics *Mr. Estrada (Franco Campese) - Mob boss of an immigrant run crime and alcohol pedaling organization *Johnny Lombardo (Andrew Thomas) - Mob henchman working for Mr. Estrada *Jackie McKlene (Wes Hughes) - Saxophonist from Kansas City hoping to promote the musical change of the 20s. =Trivia= *This skit takes place over a tremendous amount of locales, warranting many days of filming and an entire Sunday of editing. Notable locations include the Walpole train station, the Grove family residence, the Italian American Club, and the School Bus Depot on the north side of town. *During the scene with the Saxophonist, Wes was told to play whatever he wanted, as they would just use a song over the visuals of him playing in editing. However, the song he played was so good, the team ended up using it as he played it, no changes. *That same day of filming at the I.A.C. was also the day that a scene from The Dream was filmed where Dave walked through the back rooms and then fought with mobsters. *There was much debate on the night the editing was finished over the title, the last thing that needed to be done. The final title "laws and lies" was almost never used in favor of another title, "tainted." But there was not enough support for the earlier proposed "tainted," and upon further thought, the team landed on the current title. *The soundtrack, which is played through majority of the 22:45 minute skit (one of the longer, more finished projects in the Wazoo filmography), is comprised nearly entirely of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and RJD2. *The scene at the train station was intended to be much more demure and subtle with Marco just hopping down onto the platform from a ghost train (when in fact he would be standing on his suitcase). But a worker there saw the film crew, and after inquiring to what they were doing, offered, for the sake of realism, an out-of-commission train in the back of the trainyard. This added quite a bit of realism to the production. *In haste to finish the project, the editing team forgot to rearrange one shot during the final chase as it shows Harman running towards some busses in one shot, then in the next he is nowhere near the busses. In the next shot, he is right next to the busses.